Roger Stone requested Wednesday that a judge hold a hearing on the conspiracy theory that CNN was tipped off about his arrest before it happened last month.
CNN has denied getting any such tip, and even published a story going through the clues it used to put together that the arrest might be happening the morning of Friday, Jan. 25.
Nonetheless, the theory has been touted by Stone, his allies, and even Republican lawmakers. Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker fanned the flames by saying a congressional hearing last week that he he too was concerned that CNN was tipped off, despite there being no evidence that prosecutors gave any members of the media a heads up about Stone’s arrest.
Stone is now requesting that prosecutors be required to “show cause” that they were not in contempt by allegedly leaking his indictment to the press.
Stone’s request came in court filings Wednesday that included several exhibits, while suggesting it was “not par for the course” that a reporters and a camera crew arrived at his house before his arrest and hours before his indictment was posted publicly on the federal court website PACER. His exhibits include a screenshot of his lawyer’s texts with a CNN reporter, a timeline of that Friday morning’s events and a screenshot of what he claims is the metadata of the indictment the CNN reporter sent his lawyer shortly after the rest.
His claims rest on the fact that the indictment sent to his lawyer by the reporter at 6:22 a.m. ET, about 15 minutes after he was arrested, and more than two hours before it was posted on PACER. The indictment the reporter sent also did not have the markings, such as a “sealed” stamp, that the PACER version had, which Stone alleges shows that the indictment was “publicly distributed” in violation of a court’s order that it would remain under sealed until after his arrest.
In fact, the special counsel’s press representative sent an email to all the reporters on his press list at 6:16 a.m. ET, five minutes after Stone’s arrest, announcing the charges with a link to the special counsel website where a copy of the indictment had been posted. The CNN reporter herself, in her text to Stone’s lawyer, said she received the indictment via the press release, and that indictment matches the version Stone included in his exhibits while suggesting it was a “draft” leaked to CNN.
It has been the standard practice of Mueller’s investigation to announce indictments in press releases like the one that announced Stone’s charges.
Stone has been charged with obstruction, making false statements and witness tampering. He has pleaded not guilty.
Read his request for a hearing, along with some of the exhibits, below:
First of all “requesting” is far from “demanding.” Secondly, I sure hope his request is from the same judge handling his case, the same one who jailed Manafort. If so, hopefully this will hasten his trip to pre-trial detention.
At some point really soon, Judge Jackson, will tell Stone to STFU. And she will not tell him nicely, he will make his bail contingent on his having no contact with the media and making no public or private statements about the case before him.
P.s. she is already considering one. https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/01/politics/roger-stone-gag-order/index.html Stone is not helping himself here. He is facing 20 years in jail, and Jackson will put him there. And no way that Trump will lift a finger (which he knows would get chopped off) and helps him.
Well as they say, 'You can demand in one hand, **** in the other, and see which one fills up faster…"
Oh for Christ’s sake. WhoTF is HE to ‘demand’ anything? C’mon. ‘Tipping people off’ is his stock in trade so even if someone DID do it (which I don’t believe) what goes around comes around Rog…
Roger’s doing what Trump has done, which is trying to make the case a public spectacle specifically aimed at the base. The same rubes he’s hitting up for money through Gingrich’s mailing list might be impressed by this. I expect the Judge to issue a gag order soon.